Dance Floor Anthem
by paintinwithwords
Summary: Alex Dawson is a dancer,but her parents keep her from doing what she loves. She thinks about giving up until she meets "badboy" Austin who brings his problems with him. Can she handle his crazy life along with her own? Even if her life depended on it?
1. Chapter 1

**Dance Floor Anthem**

**Chapter 1**

Ugh. Don't you just hate walking home? I mean, come on, what are cars for? Of course with a father working in Brooklyn and a mother working in Manhattan, I guess cars are kind of out of the picture. But this is why we need to put some amendments on these driving rules. I mean, what's with that rule where you have to be 16 years old to drive?

Come on now, let's be reasonable. Bump it down to 14! So, sure, maybe 1 or 2 (dozen) people may, might get hurt. But hey, you can't live your life unscarred forever. And besides, at least everyone gets home without dealing with the hassles of walking.

Ugh. The sun is too hot! I already got that milk chocolate skin, do I need to be any darker? Oh! I was so busy ranting that I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Alex Dawson. I'm 15 and I love to dance. I'm really good at it too. But unfortunately, I'm very smart. So right away you should know that my mom, having roots in the Caribbean, would never consider dancing a career. She wants me to be a doctor.

BORING. Where is the excitement? I don't consider working on diseased patients and working in a lab all day trying to find a cure that's been non-existent for like ever to be rather intriguing. I have a passion for science I really do, but I don't want to base my career on it. Sure, it would definitely be something to fall back on, but nah I'm good. Well enough with this boring stuff.

I finally made it home! Great, now its time to get something to eat and get ready for dance practice at 7:30. I took out a box of Kraft's. Put the water to a boil and then went in my room to start my hw.

Once I finished my math homework, the water was boiling. I put in the pasta. Once I finished cooking I sat down to eat. Then I got a text message on my phone. I pulled out my flip phone. It was from Haley Prescott. My best friend since the summer before 7th grade.

"Yo alex! What's good?"

"Hey Haley. You comin' to dance today?"

"Nah. I can't. I have to go to the orthodontist to get my braces removed."

"Aw. Ok. I'll be missing you."

I hung up the phone, finished my mac and cheese and left for dance. When I was about to open the door to the building the dance was in, my phone started to ring. It was Demetri Athens. My dance teacher. He was only a year older than me, but he was good. By the way, in case you were wondering, we don't dance ballet or tap or any of that other boring stuff. Not that it's bad its just, not us. We dance hip-hop, crump, and we just free-style and do what we feel. Sometimes ballet is incorporated actually most of the time it is. So you ballerinas don't feel bad. Anyway back to the conversation.

"Hey Demetri. I'm just walking in now. You upstairs already?"

"Nah. That's what I wanted to talk to you about. I'm not going to be able to teach today. I have to go across town for a meeting with all the other dance leaders in NYC. So you're gonna have to take over for me."

"Demetri, do you realize what you're saying? You're asking ME to lead practice! Dude, I'm only 15. There are people there your age. They're not going to listen to me. Even the people who are younger. You can't be serious."

"Well I am and I'm 16. So age is not an excuse. You are the best dancer there and you know it. They won't disrespect you. You know we're all homies. We're cool. Come on. Just do this for me, please?"

"Fine! I'll do it. But you owe me."

"You know it. Peace."

"Later."

I went upstairs and found the dancers warming up. "Ok guys. As you know the annual Youth Dancing Competition is in a month and we have to do THE best we can to prepare for it. So after we finish warming up, I'll play the song that I think we should do and you guys can tell me what you think." We did warm-ups and then I played the song. To my surprise, however, they liked it. I taught them the steps for the beginning of the song because well, that's all I made up.

I played it out in my head. I didn't think they would be doing it and besides, this is just to get through the day. No problem. Once class was over, I must have gotten 12 "great songs", 6 "nice moves" and 9 "can't wait for the competitions."

Then one of my friends, in my grade, came up to me. His name was Darrell Henry. "Hey, Alex. There's this friend of mine who's a really great dancer, but his parents don't want him to act on it and he doesn't want to go through the hassle. Here's his schedule. His name is Austin James. Maybe you could talk to him sometime. You know, convince him to join?"

I sighed. I was awfully good at helping people join the group, but something in my gut convinced me this wouldn't be easy at all. Nevertheless, I put the schedule in my purse got my stuff, turned off the lights, locked the door and headed home. Then it hit me: Austin was a lot like myself. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.


	2. Chapter 2

**Alex**

I took a train back to my house. LIRR to be exact. Traveling from Brooklyn to Long Island isn't always easy. I got home and threw myself onto my bed. I turned on my dad's laptop and began to randomly IM people. After that got boring, I decided practice the song I wrote on my piano.

Then simultaneously I pulled out Austin's schedule and I realized that our schedules were identical. How come I haven't seen this kid before? I tucked the thought out of my mind. I practiced my subtle approach to him for tomorrow.

I would just tell him we would find a way to help him dance without his parents being a problem and tell him he was wasting his talent by not doing anything with it. Yea, that should work. We'll just take it from there. Then with that I went to bed.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"You looked tired last night. Where were you so late?" said the madre. "Umm… mom didn't I tell you? I stay over Haley's every day after school and then we go to the park to read and study or talk about things, and maybe even just enjoy the scenery." I said trying to think as quickly as I could.

"All right. Just as long as you aren't sneaking off to that dance class again. You know how your father and I feel about you dancing Alex." She said to me. "Yes mom. 'Dancing is not a career it's a leisure activity.' I know I know." I said to her, clearly bored. I grabbed my stuff and headed for the door.

My dad was waiting for me outside and he dropped me off at school. I put my stuff in my locker and headed off to first period. I sat down in my desk and decided I would just wait for attendance and look to see who answers when the name 'Austin James' is called. Mr. Benterman goes through the list.

My name is called and I wait a while then so is his. A masculine, yet not too deep voice answers, "I'm here...like every other day." I thought that was unnecessary.

I turn my head in the direction of the sound. That's when I noticed: Austin is hot. Not just hot but gorgeous. He had tan skin, a muscular jaw, full lips and short black hair. From the t-shirt he was wearing you could see he had a toned torso with an 8-pack, muscular arms and broad shoulders.

He had toned legs and a butt you had to call cute. He had to be at least 5'11'' and I wanted to get to know every part of him. I smoothed some gloss on my lips and decided to let my hair down for like the first time ever.

Once the bell rang I walked over to his desk and said, "Hey. You're Austin right?" "Who wants to know?" he said cocking his eyebrow. "Well that depends on who's asking," I smiled. He laughed and said, "Smart answer. You're the first person to have a comeback for that. Most people just get nervous and run away. So what do you want again? Because I don't have any spare change."

I stared at him open-mouthed and started to walk away. I had decided he wasn't worth it. When I got to the end of the hallway I turned and said, "If you can't even spare change you might want to come back and see me Thursday. That's when I help the less fortunate living on welfare. If you're up for that you're free to join me tomorrow when I'm doing charity fundraising."

I kept walking only turning around once to see his mouth even wider than mine had been.

I smiled to myself as Haley walked up to me in the hallway.

"What's got you cheesin'?" she said.

I thought of how hard it would be to get Austin to join dance after what I did to him. Then I remember how his face looked as I was leaving and something in my gut told me he would be back. He'd try and get my forgiveness, but I'd never give it to him.

I elbowed her slightly and said, "I just made some money off a lost cause."

Because it was true, right?

**Austin**

Damn. I just got dissed so hard. Worse than that, I got dissed by a girl. And even worse than that, I got dissed by a girl that I thought I had in the palm of my hand. And if that wasn't bad enough, I wasn't even mad at her. Matter of fact, it made me like her even more.

Hey, hey ease up. It's not my fault. Do you control your hormones? No. Ya don't. And if you do, I hope I'm on your list of people to head to Heaven. But I had been watching her for days. It was September 7, the third day of school, and already I had become obsessed.

She was so different from your average girl. She had soft, smooth, milky chocolate skin, long brown hair (you know? That kind you only see in the sunlight?), brown eyes and lips that were not too full but not thin either. She had a small nose and small ears and had a long neck that made her look like a goddess.

She had long flawless arms and a long torso. She had round, full breasts that were just the right size and had a perfectly toned stomach with a round, firm butt that you could never not notice even if it was just medium-sized and not huge.

I could never go a day without staring at her legs which were so long and smooth they made her look like a gazelle. There's no doubting she did sports. Her body was so toned it was ridiculous. She had muscles and although small they may be you could never doubt that she was strong, fast, and agile.

She was probably 5'6'' or taller, but that hardly mattered. My favorite thing about her though was her walk. She always walked with confidence. She wasn't boasting like she owned the place or anything, but she wasn't going to let you talk her down either.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

When I saw her walking up to me, I quickly looked away and summoned my inner cool as though I cared about absolutely nothing. She came half way to my seat and then turned around as if she had suddenly lost the courage to talk to me, but she clenched her fists and turned back and walked right up to my desk.

Her distaste in giving up made me smile. When she saw me grinning she began to blush, but in the same instant it came, it was gone. This told me she was brave and determined. Something else to add to my list of her amazing qualities.

We got to talking and I had been a jerk and that was when she dissed me. She dissed me HARD.

I decided to cut class for the rest of the day. I already knew the curriculum back and front. My grades were on top, there wasn't much they could say to me. They needed the publicity. After reality came back in, I realized I looked stupid with my mouth hanging open and shut it quickly.

I headed out to my spot in the little room behind the school next to the basketball courts and unlocked the storage closet.

I pulled out my guitar and began to strum. Call me crazy, but I could have sworn the notes whispered something to me. It was sweet. It wrapped around my neck and caressed my face until it reached my lips.

It said: _Alex_.


	3. Chapter 3

**Alex**

Last bell of the day started ringing and I packed up my stuff and was heading out of school when Haley walked over. "Yo, you wanna get some pizza before dance? I'm mad hungry. Mom forgot to make me lunch," she said frowning.

"Yeah yeah sure," I blurted.

Then I remembered this whole Austin thing I was supposed to be taking care of. "Oh wait. I got something I gotta take care of. How 'bout I meet you at the pizzeria?" I said making that face that made her agree to anything, especially if she was hungry.

"Ight fine, but you stand me up and we're gonna be fighting tomorrow," she said laughing.

"Yeah, I know. I can change. I'll make sure I'm not late!" I said screaming after her once she started walking.

She didn't even turn around when she screamed back, "Oh please. Not even you can change so fast."

I laughed. Then almost as quickly I sighed. It was time to confront Austin and get this whole thing over with. It wouldn't be that big of a deal. If he said no, he said no. I'd just tell Darrell there was nothing I could do to change his mind. But Darrell would know I was lying. He'd know that I didn't give it my best shot and the hurt look on his face would haunt me for the rest of my life. So for his sake and mine I decided to go find Austin.

I hoped it wouldn't be that hard. I mean with a toned body like that he must have done sports or something. I was walking back up the street to the school when I heard music playing. A guitar. It was actually kind of nice. I started rushing to the basketball courts because he may play after school. It also didn't hurt that it happened to be where the music was coming from.

I saw Mike Davis, a sophomore who was a star basketball player, walk out. "Hey! Hey, Mike!" I screamed. "Mike! Is Austin in there?"

He seemed flustered and looked up. _Why the hell would I be above your head, moron?_ I thought rashly. But instead of thinking out loud I said, "I'm over here, Mike." He turned and smiled.

"Oh. Hey. Didn't notice you back there." _Obviously not. I'm sure there was a reason I told you I was back here, _I thought again. He starts coming closer and soon enough wraps an arm around my waist. He was joking but it was still annoying.

"I've got a car you know. We could always drive outta' here and never come back," he said winking and smiling.

"The only time I'd go ANYWHERE with you is in my nightmares and even then you're the one waiting in the car."

He laughed and that made me laughed. I noticed he had a nice smile and really, really beautiful hazel eyes. "You know I was just kidding, Alex."

"Yeah I know," I said smiling and I nudged him on the elbow. I totally forgot why I called this guy over so the next 30 seconds were just filled with utter silence as we each stared at each other.

"Listen I'm gonna go now," I said the same time he said, "Do you need a ride?" We looked at each other and laughed again.

"Oh you don't have to," I said. "I know, but I wanted to," he said.

"Am I talking to the same Mike?" I said surprised. Mike was known to be the jock who made out with like half the girls in school on a regular basis.

"Uhh…yes?" he said confused. "It's fine. I'm not going home right now anyway, but thanks for the offer. I'm going to go now," I said. "Okay. It was really nice talking to you again. Oh. By the way, here's my number. Call whenever you need a ride or anything else," he said grinning.

"Yea okay thanks," I said and walked away. That's when I remembered what I had wanted to ask him. He started the car and I began to run to it so I could catch him before he drove off. I tripped over a rope on the ground as I was running and I fell. I looked up and he was already gone. I grunted and saw that my left arm and leg were bleeding. I wiped it with a tissue from my bag and just ignored the burning.

That's when I heard it. A laugh. Austin. He was laughing at me. Figures. Whatever, I didn't have time for him, but I had to make time for him because of Darrell. Stupid Darrell with his stupid sad face and his even STUPIDER friend. He finally gained his composure and smiled when he said, "You're trying to offer me welfare when you're the one who can't even get off the streets."

I didn't respond so he said, "You know you're bleeding right?"

"And?" I responded.

He said, "I think you should do something about that before you get someone's sidewalk dirty." He laughed at his own joke. What an idiot.

"Do me a favor and go stand out in the street over there. When you're dead I won't have to hear your stupid comments and Darrell can't blame me when I give up on you."

"You know Darrell?" he asked surprised.

"Does it matter?" I retorted. God, he was annoying.

"It matters to me. Now tell me."

"I don't know who you think you're ordering around like that, but it's not me. Have a nice life," I said and started to walk away. Don't ask me how he got here, but I must have taken two steps when he was suddenly in front of me blocking my path.

"Do you need something?" I asked. He didn't respond so I stepped around him and kept walking. He did it again. He was right in front of me.

"Listen, I was just wondering how you knew Darrell, okay? Just talk to me. I don't want to fight with you," he said. I hated myself for loving the sincerity in his eyes when he was being nice.

"And I don't want to talk to you. So if you'll excuse me," I said stepping away. He clenched his fists and moaned. Yes, he moaned.

"Alright alright. No need to get uptight. I just…." I started to say, but when I turned around he was already gone. Did I always have to screw everything up? I'd make it up to him later. Right now I need to head over to the pizzeria and meet up with Haley before I screwed things up even more.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

**Austin**

Whatever, man. I tried being nice to her and she was just ignoring all my kind efforts. I even told her I didn't want to fight with her but noooo she just had to be rude and make fun of me. The worst part though, was that when she was angry she was so beautiful I couldn't stand it. It was like she was taking all the beautiful from everyone else and keeping it all for herself.

Every time she would be rude to me or make some kind of snide remark it would just make me want to grab her, hold her face in my hands and kiss her. Ridiculous I know but I just couldn't help myself. There was just something about her when she was angry. She looked so powerful and as if she was this Amazon goddess or something. I don't know how to explain it, okay?

I couldn't take it anymore, so I walked away before I did something that would completely change the way we viewed each other and just made it more awkward than it was now.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I was sitting in first period, like I always do. Waiting for the attendance to be called, it's nothing new. My name is called, I say I'm here like always. You think I'm being rude? This is just how I am on fall days. Don't ask me why I'm rhyming. I was just in a free-stylin' mood.

First period was done. Bell rang, but I sat there anyway. She looked up and saw me sitting there and came over to talk to me. I really didn't want to hear what she had to say so I got up and started walking out. She jogged up towards me and began walking beside me. I glared at her and looked straight ahead and kept walking.

She frowned and said, "Listen I'm sorry. It just wasn't my day, okay? You were being unnecessarily rude to me yesterday and I just felt really hostile towards you."

"I know I'm smart and all that good stuff, but let's keep the sophisticated language for school. You wanna talk to me then give it to me straight," I said more forced than necessary.

"Well I'm a friend of Darrell Henry, your best friend, and he told me you could dance. He said you got mad talent. So I was wondering if you could come by and practice with us. We got a competition coming up and we could use all the help we can get. So you in?" she looked at me pleadingly.

I wasn't about to give in that easily though, no matter how cute she looked. "Darrell isn't my best friend. I don't have a best friend," I replied, ignoring her question.

"But that's besides the point. You didn't really answer my question," she observed.

I had to fall for the smart one, didn't I? "I gotta go," I said and headed off to class.

She didn't even try to stop me.

Like I said, I always fall for the smart ones.


	4. Chapter 4

**Alex**  
Jesus Christ! Can you help a girl out here? You made a real stubborn one for me you know. What is this my calling or something? After Austin walked off, I decided not to chase after him. He probably needed to be alone and I did kind of deserve it after how I treated him yesterday. But hey, he wasn't apologizing to me.

I mean he was being mean to me first. That's the whole reason I was so tight and didn't even bother trying to have a conversation with him. Whatever. I don't need him anyway, Darrell does. Ugh, Darrell. What was I going to tell him? I'll just have to be honest I guess. I mean it was wrong of him to thrust this responsibility on me in the first place. When you think about it, he didn't even give me the chance to answer when he had asked me to talk to Austin.

So technically I'm not breaking a promise or anything. So yeah, I'll just tell him today at dance. But I couldn't help remembering how good it felt to see Austin smile. I had ruined that with my pride. And if I told Darrell that I didn't want to help Austin out then I wouldn't have an excuse to talk to him.

If I kept trying to convince him I could pretend that I was forcing myself to talk to him. Then he wouldn't know how much I wanted to rub his body down with some butter and run my hands all up and down his chiseled abs. Oh. My. Gosh. I did not just think that. Must be the heat in here. We just gotta be the cheap school who can't afford ACs in every room and aint even got an auditorium.

Phew. I'm just gonna go to class before I'm late. Seriously need to get my head straight. There's just something I couldn't help wondering. It was wrong to use Austin and Darrell and this whole dancing thing to foster my own desires even though I kept telling myself I didn't think he was hot. Would I ever get him to join? Something told me I wasn't going to like the answer.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Lunch time. My favorite time of the school day. But we had to pay for our lunch here. I know, right? We didn't have to pay when I used to go to school in Brooklyn. I piled on a heap of food and sat down. I had two cheeseburgers, a slice of pizza, popcorn chicken, two orders of fries, a soda, a slushy, and two cookies.

The lunch ladies used to look at me weird but then they started complementing me. Like yesterday, Betty, my favorite lunch lady, was like "The usual?" and when I nodded she said, "It's good that we finally got a girl up in here that can eat more than my husband. Too many girls these days starvin' themselves." Then she smiled and gave me two extra cookies. I was about to return them when she shook her head and winked at me and I understood.

I sat down and began eating my lunch. My table was packed as always. I'm not exactly unpopular. Not that I care. I think popularity is a scale people use as an excuse for why they have a right to be jealous of someone else.

"Hey. Guys I think I'm going to sit over there. The enclosed is space is getting to me today," I said.

They all looked sad at first, but when Haley shot them a look they all brightened instantly. "Thanks Haley."

I walked over to the other table and sat down to eat my lunch. I didn't even get to look at my food when I heard it. The laugh. Again. Would this kid ever leave me alone? I looked up at him annoyed then started on my first cheeseburger. If he wasn't going to be nice to me then I wasn't going to be nice to him. He had a tray in his hand stacked with food that you'd expect someone like him to eat. He had about half of what I had on his tray and a Propel.

When I didn't say anything to him he smiled and said, "Now I KNOW you not gonna finish all of that food."

"Obviously you don't know much. But I guess you already figured that out when you had to repeat kindergarten," I said rashly.

"How did you know I had to repeat kindergarten?" he asked his face tense with his fists and jaw clenched.

"I uh didn't. You had to repeat kindergarten?" I asked.

"I doubt it matters," he said head down jaw still clenched.

"Do you actually need something this time? Or are you just here to criticize me for your own entertainment?" I asked.

"Nah. It's not like that. I actually do need something," he said looking up. I looked at him and waited for him to say something else.

When he didn't I said, "And that thing would be?" He sighed and then looked at me very seriously and I noticed he had nice brown eyes.

"I need us to be friends Alex. I can't fight with you anymore. It's hurting me. I can't even think straight anymore. We cool or what?" he asked smiling.

My eyes were wide. This was not what I was expecting. I tried to make some words come out my mouth. "Uh yeah. Yeah we cool," was all I could muster.

We started eating and when we were both finished I decided to ask him about what Darrell had said. "So you been thinkin about the dancin' thing lately? Darrell really thinks you got some potential." I said. He smiled and looked at me with those eyes.

"Well Alex, I don't know why Darrell would tell you this. Maybe I can dance, maybe I can't. Doesn't mean I'm going to join some dance group. I'm not sure if Darrell told you this, but my parents don't support me dancing. So there you go," he said keeping his calm tone.

I don't know what happened to me, but something made me brave enough to sit down beside him and rap an arm around his shoulders. I felt for him. I knew what it was like. I said to him, "Hey. Look at me, come on. Listen, I know what it's like. My parents are the same way. I have to sneak out everyday just to get to dance class. I can help you with that. I do it all the time. All you have to do is say yes."

"Well even if you could get me there, doesn't mean I'm going to do it. I'm not that good anyway. Listen, I gotta go to class. I'll see you if I see you," he said to me and walked out the cafeteria.

I stood there for three seconds then realized I would be late for my next class if I didn't leave right away. When school was finally over I told Haley I couldn't walk with her to dance today because I had something to do. She cocked an eyebrow at me and said, "You never cancel on me. The last time you did was because your grandfather died, not to bring that up again. What's going on?"

"I just have something to do. Ight? I'll meet you at dance."

I walked outside to go check the basketball court to look for Austin. On my way there I heard some music in the alleyway behind our school. Sure enough, it's Austin. After realizing that he's paying no attention to his surroundings, I decide to come out of my hiding place and lean my shoulder on the building in front of him. After maybe 10 minutes, he stopped dancing and realized I was standing there.

I quickly said, "No, don't stop. Don't let me bother you. That was really good. I thought you said you couldn't dance."

"I didn't say that. I said maybe I can, maybe I can't. You seriously want me to do this dance thing don't you?" he asked me.

I nodded. He smiled and I just about melted right there on the spot. Then he said, "Ight fine. But just because you're so...annoying."

He threw his head back and started laughing. "You really thought I was going to complement you. Dude, I don't even know you. But I'll do your dancing thing."

Then I said, "For your information I was not expecting a compliment. But don't do it for me, Austin. Do it because you want to."

"I do want to…but just because of Darrell and the fact that he got someone so damn persuasive to convince me."

"Is that a compliment?? From Austin James?"

"It wasn't a compliment, it was a regular statement. You are very persuasive. You know I was kidding about before with the thing before about you expecting a compliment right?"he asked.

"Yeah I know," I said looking away.

"Let's just get this over with."

"Yea let's go," I said even though I knew I'd rather just stand there and watch him dance.

I turned and led the path away from my desires and a royal pain in the you-know-damn-well-what.


	5. Chapter 5

We take the train all the way to Queens. I noticed Austin's hands getting more and more of a pinkish color. I decided that this meant he was nervous. I smiled in his direction and said, "Don't be nervous. All the dancers are mad chill. You'll be fine. Plus, Darrell's there too. Remember? Everyone's cool with Darrell. His friends are your friends."

He comes just a little too close to me. Our legs touch and my heart beat goes at least 15 times faster. He says in a soft whisper, "And what about your friends?"

I don't answer. Instead, I just smile at him as if that answers his question. I move my body away from him trying as hard as I can not to move it right back. He notices this and tries not to move back next to me. Somehow this makes me think he's smart and makes me like him even more. Well I don't like him exactly, but it makes him hotter. He's smart. Who knows how out of control I could have gotten?

It's our stop. We get off and walk about 3½ blocks to the building. I'm about to open the door when Austin steps on front of me and says, "Wait. I don't think I can do this. I'm not that good. What if they laugh at me? Whoa. Hold up. Why am I whining like this? This is not Austin James. How gay do I sound right now?"

"Would you like that in numbers? Glad you said it before I did. You'll be fine. I've seen you dance. You're better than me and more than likely better than at least half the guys there. So can we please go into the building now?"

I say to him taking a deep breath. We head upstairs and are greeted in the most ways. Several girls look him up and down and say to me, "Mm, mm, mm. Where did you find HIM?" Other girls whistle at him. Some guys cheer, and only Darrell is simply beaming. "Glad you're here man. This is where you belong," Darrell says.

"So they say. I just hope they're right," says Austin winking at me. I blushed and turned away.

"OK, guys. I heard that Alex put together an amazing dance for you guys yesterday. So…I was thinking that since you guys liked it so much that we would use it and work on it for the competition. That ok, guys?" says Demetri. They all begin to cheer and I understand that this is a good sign. They like it!

"Whoa. Hold up. Looks like we got a new dancer in the house. You wanna tell us your name?" he asks.

"The name is Austin. Austin James. People call me AJ, though. I don't think I'm that good so imma just roll out and let yall do your thing," says Austin heading for the door.

Demetri runs ahead of him and stands in front of the door and says, "Dude. Chill out. If ALEX thinks you're good, then trust me kid. You're GOOD. So just give it a shot ight?"

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

We were on the train. Practice had gone better than I thought it would have. Austin was tripping over his feet at first, but once he started to get the moves I could have just sat there and watched him all day. Austin was beyond good. It wasn't the dance itself, but how he danced the dance. It's not easy to explain.

It was like he could take the crappiest choreography in the world and make it look amazing. He danced from the heart and you could feel what he was feeling while he was dancing. He made you part of the dance. I was beyond impressed.

As I sat on the train next to him I tried to convince him how good it was and how much I felt it, but he couldn't seem to shake the thought that he had just completely embarrassed himself. Once we got off the train, I had offered to walk back home with him, but he refused and said the man should be taking the lady home and not the other way around. I knew it wouldn't do to argue with him so I said, "Okay, but two conditions."

"And what did you have in mind?"

"We stop somewhere and get a bite to eat," I said smiling.

"Okay I'm down and the other one?" he mused.

"You have to race me these three blocks. Winner picks the store and loser pays," I said grinning.

He laughed and said, "Pshhh. I don't think that's fair. I'll beat you way too easy."

"You'd be surprised. I'll give you a head-start. Ready, set, GO!" I screamed.

**Austin**

I started sprinting, but not my hardest. I really didn't want to destroy her. I turned around. She still hadn't started running yet and I had already been running for 10 seconds. This girl seriously wanted to pay for dinner. I maintained my pace and looked back to see her start running. I smiled. Now this is what I'm talking about. She smiled at me the whole time. Then she licked her lips and winked at me. She started sprinting full speed and came up right beside.

She couldn't have been trying that hard because she had enough breath in her to say, "Now you are DEFINATELY gonna have to run faster than that if you want to beat me. Hope you like Friendly's. Money shouldn't be a problem right? I'm sure you got a 50 somewhere in them baggy jeans. See you at the finish, Night Krawler."

That name struck something in my brain. But I obviously didn't have the time or the breath to ask her about it now. She sprinted past me now and I could see her cross the street where the race was supposed to end. She sat down on the curb and I arrived 3 seconds later.

"Let's go," she said, not even giving me a chance to breathe. We walked down the block and I was grateful for the stroll as I began to catch my breath. We walked in silence unless you count the sound of her humming as we kept along. I would smile to myself and look at her every so often while she wasn't looking. As I stared at her I couldn't help wondering how anyone could be so beautiful and so close to perfect all at the same time. I turned away before I became absorbed and looked at the ground.

She brought her face right under mine and then said, "Gotten tired of staring at me? Or is there an army of ants on the sidewalk getting ready to start a revolution on the roaches?" I stared at her surprised and once she registered my expression she began to laugh. There was no way in hell I was going to let her see me like this. Couldn't make it obvious how obsessed with her I was.

I quickly thought of something to say, "Okay Ms. Conceited. Not everyone is always staring at you. There are better things to look at. Like these ants. I think they're pretty interesting actually so hop off and stop sippin' that haterade."

I know this made her upset because she stood up, turned away from me, and started walking down the street. She went inside the Friendly's and took a seat. She was mad. She was beyond mad. She was tight and I almost regretted hurting her so much.

Almost.

I was almost ready to apologize actually when she stuck her head out of the door and said, "Someone's got to pay for this and we both know it's not gonna be me. So do yourself a favor and get the hell in here before I kick where the sun don't be takin the time to shine."

She thought I didn't see it, but right before she went into the store again she did something that surprised me.

She smiled.


	6. Chapter 6

**Alex**

How DARE he?? Using my own lines on me. Who does he think he is? Huh?? Nah, we're gonna make sure he understands that you don't be bitin' off of Alex Dawson's lines. Watch me. It was pretty funny though and I guess I should feel a little happy that he likes staring at me. But wait what if it's because he noticed something really weird about me and can't seem to figure out why it's there? Nah chill Alex. This isn't you talking. You are NOT this self conscious.

But I have to say I enjoyed the staring. I hope he didn't notice that smile because that would so not help me set him straight. Here he comes now. Yeah, we'll see who wins this one buddddddy.

**Austin**

I walked in and saw her sitting there smiling. Okay, now I was afraid. Wasn't she just mad tight like 10 seconds ago? I sat down and she looked at me and the smile was gone in less than a second as she said, "Listen and you better be listening good because I do not intend on repeating myself. You see that little stunt you pulled? Using my own lines on me? Not cool. Definitely not cool. Don't let it happen again. I'll drop it for now because you are kind of buying dinner."

"Yeah about that I don't know if…."I began to say but was cut off by the waitress who suddenly approached us.

"Hey, my name is Nicole. I'm going to be your waitress for this evening. May I please take your orders?" she said. She was an average looking teenage girl. Long blonde hair, blue eyes and a heart-shaped face with high cheekbones. She had small pink lips and an average body. She wasn't skinny, but she wasn't fat and she couldn't be more than a foot taller than the table we were eating at. Alex smiled at her and told me to order.

"Uhhh I think I'll have the kickin' buffalo basket and a Sprite," I said.

She and Nicole cocked an eyebrow and gave me a crooked smile. Then she turned her attention to the waitress, "Don't mind him. He's just very subtle. Give us a Munchie Mania, another kickin' buffalo basket with mashed potatoes, and a turkey club with mashed potatoes and an Orange Fanta."

The waitress put her hands on her hips and look at Alex with an "are you serious?" look. Alex frowned and said, "I know, I know. But I gotta cut back. I'm on a diet. Maybe next time." Nicole smiled and said, "I'll hold you to it." Then she walked away.

I looked at her confused. "What?" she said to me.

"What? What do you mean what? You just ordered madd food and told Nicole you were on a diet. Why would you do that?" I demanded.

She raised both her eyebrows and said, "Maybe because I am?"

"You just ordered mad food. How can you be on a diet?"

"I usually eat more Austin. I decided to cut down. Does that bother you?"

"No. It's just…never mind."

"Okay then Austin." Gosh, that girl has some appetite. The appetizers came and she just dug right in.

I was still feeling a little guilty about not telling her about the whole me-not-being-able-to-pay-for-dinner issue, so I tried again. "Uhhh Alex, I seriously need to tell you something."

"Thanks for the update Mr. Gates, now you can teach me how you made so much damn money off of a piece of plastic," she said grinning at me. (You know, the guy that made Microsoft? You need the CD to program it to your computer? Ya get it? Yeah I figured I'd have to explain to you slow people out there.) I couldn't help but smile back. She looked so happy and I didn't want that smile to leave, so I just sat there grinning my face off like I was Heath Ledger's replacement.

She stopped smiling and looked at me like there was a wad of crap on my forehead and said, "Uhhh helloooooo??? Austin you wanted to tell me something?"

"Oh right. Yeah, I just wanted to make sure that you didn't feel too bad after I eat more of these mozzarella sticks than you can in 30 seconds."

She sat there with a sly smile on her lips and replied, "Loser coughs up 20 bucks."

"Uhhh about that…"

"What now don't tell me. You just realized you can't eat too much because you're on a diet and you're trying to make the basketball team to impress girls," she stated. She wasn't on to me so I let her think she was right.

"What's wrong with trying to impress girls?"

**Alex**

"I never said there was anything wrong with trying to impress girls. But you? Impress girls? You can't even impress me," I said folding my arms and raising my right eyebrow, daring him to challenge me. And challenge me he did.

"Is that so? Then what's with that thing you do every time I walk into a room? Your eyes go all wide and you adjust everything around you and then stare at me till I stare back. You think I didn't notice? Oh, and when you walk into a room and see me already there you freeze in place for about 3 seconds and then shake the feeling. Regain your confidence, put on your best i-don't-care-face at me and act like you didn't see me. I bet you didn't know I noticed that either. I could practically hear your heart beating a million times a minute. Just like I can hear it now," he stopped talking and I could feel him staring at me.

I looked up at him for the first time since he started talking and tried to speak, but realized I couldn't make any words come out of my mouth. He must have noticed this because he sat back and said to me, "Don't worry. There's nothing you need to say anyway. Your body does the talking for you. You communicate with the things you do not the things you say. So to answer your questions: yeah me and yeah I wanna impress girls. I don't want to be alone forever you know. I don't about you but I hope you plan on changing that temper problem if you don't want to either."

Now I really wanted to say something. To come up with another of my sarcastic, witty remarks. And I was about to, until I was interrupted by Nicole delivering our food and taking the remains of our appetizer.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

We ate in silence. I've never eaten so slow in my life. It was as though food was foreign to me. And trust me that was not normal for someone who ate as much as I did. I couldn't believe it. He knew. He knew how seeing him made me feel. How my pulse quickened. How I could hear my heartbeat thumping faster and faster by the minute. How my palms began to sweat and how I started feeling unusually hot. And how I…wait.

He didn't know all of that and he damn well wasn't going to hear it from me. But seeing him talk to me like that. Recalling everything he'd noticed about me, just made him that more appealing. And just made me more drawn to him. He'd been watching me. Observing me when he thought I didn't notice. So I wasn't the only one staring. I had never craved anyone so much the way I craved him right then. I felt like I was going to pass out if I couldn't so much as touch him right then. I found that to be pretty dangerous. Since when did I ever want a guy so badly?

I stood up to go walk away from him so I could maybe get him off my mind but then my vision began to blur and I began feeling light-headed. I felt like my legs could no longer hold me and was sure I was going to fall on my face when my knees buckled but was instead greeted with a firm grip on my bicep. Austin was at my side in a flash. I didn't even see him get here. But there he was steadying me and moving me towards the booth to sit down.

"Jesus, Alex! Are you alright?"

"M'fine. Just need some air. Here go pay the check."

"Uhhh…Alex I don't…"

"Yea I already know." And I did. I figured he couldn't pay the check. I just wanted to save him the embarrassment of admitting it out loud.

"You know?" he asked.

"That's what I said, isn't it?? Now go pay the check," I said, jaw clenched.

"But…"

"JUST GO PAY THE DAMN CHECK AUSTIN!!!" I screamed.

"Jeez, why you gotta be so stingy?"

"Bite me," I said wearing a sarcastic smile. I stepped outside and decided to wait for him there while I let the wind caress my face and slowly lift the stress away from my mind.

For now.

**Austin**

Alright. Someone is DEFINITELY going to have to explain to me what happened back there. She's shocked after I tell her I noticed how she behaves around me which is understandable. But then she eats without talking and real slow until she eventually pushes 75% of it aside and gives up? Not like her. Then she can't even stand up straight on her own? Again, not like her. Blows up at me because I don't know what the hell I'm doing? Okay, yeah. That was like her. But it doesn't change the fact that she was acting so strange.

I was thinking so much that I barely noticed the cashier walk away. But I had given her the check, hadn't I? I must have because I didn't have it anymore. I walked up to her, "Miss! Excuse me, Miss? I still haven't paid for my food."

"Yea, you did. You were with Alex, right?" I nodded, despite the fact that it surprised me that she knew Alex's name. "Yeah well, she's one of our regulars. I told her she didn't have to pay, but she insisted."

Oh wow. So she was generous. Something else to add to my list of her great qualities. I stepped outside and found her leaning against a wall with her head down. Call me crazy, but I could have sworn I saw two droplets drop beneath her face to the floor. I cleared my throat and that was all it took for her to quickly wipe her face, stand up straight, and give me a weak smile.

"You okay?" I asked her.

"Yeah I'm alright. Let's go. We have a ways to go because I don't want to take the bus," she said to me. Then she met my eyes and said to them, "And by the way, no I didn't know you noticed. But I did notice that whenever I get mad at you or say something rude or sarcastic to you, you never get mad. You just cheese like an idiot. And whenever I'm upset or happy or sad or whatever it's like you feel the same way. Your feelings reflect mine. All. The. Time." Yeah, she emphasized every word like that. She waited for a reaction and smiled when she looked into my eyes.

Then she continued, "And whenever I'm around you I can hear your heart beating through your chest, buddy. And don't think I don't notice you staring at me and analyzing me all the time. It's kind of annoying. Makes me feel like something's wrong with me," (that was definitely not why I was always looking at her, I didn't think there was anything wrong with her. She was next to perfection.) "but point is, you're not the only who's been noticing things, Night Krawler."

There was the name again. Once again it made me shiver, but i didn't know why. I ignored it. I couldn't believe it. She had me. "Why didn't you say something?" I said jaw clenched, even though I knew I had no right to be mad at her.

"What?? Why didn't YOU say anything Mr. 'Why do you have to be so conceited?' when you knew I was right the whole time? I KNEW you were staring at me and you made me look like an idiot when you knew I was right. And exactly what was I supposed to say to you? 'Yeah hey Austin, I know you're obsessed with looking at me like you're afraid you'll never see me again, but it gets annoying so why don't you stop?' Umm…no!" she practically yelled.

"Why not? What's wrong with that?" I said stupidly, with the odd feeling I was onto something.

"Why? How shallow is your mind right now? I thought you were smart. Number 1, hello? That would be ridiculously awkward and wouldn't help the situation at all. And number 2, duhh. I didn't want you to stop. But I guess you already "noticed" that didn't you?" she asked making the air quotes with her fingers. I stopped short and so did she. We had both just realized what just happened.

Her eyes went wide and she turned away from me and began walking down the street. I stepped in front of her and grabbed her arm as I said, "No actually I hadn't noticed. But I don't regret you telling me." I stepped closer to her.

"And I don't regret telling you." She looked at me with her brown eyes.

"I don't want to stop either." I pulled her closer to me.

"We don't have to."

And that's when it started. In one swift movement, I had one arm at the small of her back and the other in the arch in her neck and my lips were on hers. She let me lead for 30 seconds and then took over. She moved her lips over mine pausing only once to rub her tongue along my bottom lip and then my tongue was in her mouth and we began breathing harder.

My hands were in her hair in an instant as I let out a moan of pleasure. She threw hear head back and laughed at me and I watched the way the moon shone against the skin on her neck and how the wind blew her long hair all around her head. She brought her head back down and smiled at me. The distance between us was killing me and I pulled her back to me and she rested her head on my shoulder.

She didn't move from that spot as she said, "Don't let me go." I

squeezed her closer to me and whispered, "Never."

And then it started to rain.


End file.
